Marine Corps Marathon 2012 - RunMarathon

We (Jacqui, Linda, Janette, Jenice, Michelle) drove down to Washington early Sat morning. We went straight to the expo, which was already quite crowded. Once everybody finished shopping, we headed to the hotel. We were very early for check-in, so we went to eat lunch at Cosi's. it was very late for lunch, which kind of threw us off. When we returned to the hotel, the rooms weren't ready until 5pm. At this point, we were all exhausted and decided to relax and eat the buffet at the hotel for dinner. I am giving all this boring details because it was the beginning of everything being not quite right, or as planned for the race. After dinner, we all went to our rooms to relax and get ready. I spent some time trying to figure out Chrissy's watch, which I borrowed because my eBay watch purchase had still not arrived.
Sunday morning, we were ready to leave the hotel at 4:50am. Linda and I had made this decision because we wanted to be at the Metro when they opened. We were. I really didnt get enough coffee, but it was the best we could do. I had a banana and bagel with pb on the way to the race. The train didn't actually arrive until about 5:30. We arrived at the runners village after quite a long walk from the subway stop at the Pentagon. I was immediately not happy with my choice of clothing. I went to the bathroom several times. We finally made our way to the starting area and our corrals.

Event warmup:

We walked to the corrals. I found the 4:30 pacer, but I couldn't hear a thing she said before the race. I met a girl from Chicago named Debbie and we decided to stick together. I found Heather right before the start. We hugged and I didn't see her again! The pre-race speeches and plane fly over were very inspiring. The Marines all looked awesome and were extremely gracious. Right before we started, Chrissy's watch died! I had no idea you have to keep it charged! Somehow, my iPod also got screwed up. I spent 5 months doing long runs to Genesis and on the starting line, I couldn't see a thing! :-/
And finally, I realized I needed to pee again! It was not exactly the start I had in mind!

Run

4h 57m 42s

26.2 miles

11m 22s min/mile

Comments:

In spite of all my issues from the start, I managed to stay with the pace group through 12 miles. My foot started to hurt around mile 10, but I tried to push through. I decided I could pretend I didn't have to pee for several hours. It all worked until I just couldn't tolerate the pain in my foot any more. I slowed down and walked a bit. I also stopped at a bathroom, since my goal was gone. It was very hard to keep running at the original pace. I alternated walking and running until I realized my foot hurt just as much walking as it did running. So, I ran to the end! I was happy I made it in under 5 hours! This was the most painful run I have ever done! The Marines were fantastic and the course was beautiful. I know I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't been in so much pain.

What would you do differently?:

Get a new foot!....or just keep running.

Post race

Warm down:

I walked through the crowds until I got to the Starbucks in Rosslyn! I stood in line for 30 min for the best coffee of the weekend! I walked back to the hotel to wait for the rest of the group. Once everyone got back, we took a long time recovering and cleaning up. We decided to eat at the hotel and stay overnight. This was a big mistake. Sandy Super Storm was coming, but no one was up for the drive home.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

My foot and my inability to push past it for the full 26.2 miles!

Event comments:

Jacqui and I left on Monday morning at 5am. We were trying to beat Sandy up the coast. There were very few cars on the road. The rain got worse the farther north we got. We stopped at the last rest stop in Maryland before the Delaware state line where a State Trooper told us we had to get off the road!! We went to a Comfort Inn for the night. We were able to leave at 9am on Tuesday! It was quite an adventure!!

Last updated: 2012-05-07 12:00 AM

Running

04:57:42
|
26.2 miles |
11m 22s min/mile

Age Group:

0/

Overall:

0/23531

Performance:

Average

Course:

Nice run through Arlington, Va and over Key Bridge past Georgetown (yea Hoyas!). Nice hills at miles 2 and 8! Then we went through Washington past all the monuments, eventually making our way back to Va to end at the Iwo Jima Memorial! Great course!